However, the Blackbird wasn’t a stealth plane by modern standards—it had ... The Blackbird consumed special JP-8 high-density jet fuel that had such a high combustion temperature, legend ...

SR-71 Blackbird ... to intercept the jet. Thomas’s interview is full of interesting nuggets, like how the SR-71's Mach 3 speeds, and the resulting air friction, heated the plane's windshield ...

The Blackbird moniker is a nod to the radar ... heating efficiency to the fuel in advance of its use to propel the jet. The aircraft also required specialized ejection equipment to protect users ...

Faster than a speeding bullet, the retired SR-71 Blackbird can still turn heads ... speed and altitude records for manned air-breathing jet aircraft. The SR-71 regularly flew missions at speeds ...

made the Blackbird a difficult target. The military designed this super-jet to take over a number of missions performed by the much slower U-2 reconnaissance plane, which had become increasingly ...

But that doesn’t mean the Blackbird failed as a stealth plane. Indeed, the Mach-3 spy jet helped the Air Force and CIA to appreciate an important truth. Stealth alone can’t protect any plane.

The sleek and sinister SR-71 Blackbird looks like it belongs in a science fiction movie, though in fact the jet black spy plane proved far more successful at outrunning enemy missiles than any of ...

Built to outrun missiles and MiGs, the SR-71 Blackbird flew faster, higher, and longer than any jet in history. Discover how this Cold War marvel became the ultimate spy plane—and why it was ...

This service ceiling served the Blackbird well, being a reconnaissance aircraft charged with flying ... the cost of flying and maintaining the jet gradually became too high justify, prompting ...